15Mar 2018 by Nigel Ring

Multi-site churches. Part 3 – Community impact

Church, Emmanuel Church, Equipping, Multi-site
Steve Boon, Executive Pastor of Emmanuel Church, Brighton, and I have speaking about some of the characteristics and benefits of a multi-site church. Now we will consider some of the cultural issues. Nigel:     I think one of the points you made earlier is that ‘multi-site’ reduces the amount of travel and so makes church meetings more accessible to those living close to that particular venue. There is quite a variety to the social profile of the different populations across the Brighton and Hove conurbation. How is that worked out within an individual site? Steve:    That’s a really good question. The average age of our church when we did a survey a few years ago was roughly 38. I think we fairly resemble the city in terms of census and age groupings.…
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06Mar 2018 by Nigel Ring

Multi-site churches. Part 2 – Different options

Church, Emmanuel Church, Equipping, Multi-site
Steve Boon, the executive pastor in Emmanuel Church, Brighton, and I are continuing to discuss the multi-site philosophy of church. Nigel:    Finance inevitably has a bearing on how you operate. How does that work in Brighton? Steve:    As well as regular giving we have a Gift Day twice a year (some may refer to it as a capital campaign). This will be for our ministries helping disadvantaged people get up-skilled through our Pathways ministry and the other for planting churches. As a church-planting church we have the privilege of training up church planters at site level before sending them on. This has applied for Amsterdam, Ottawa and Berlin where all the current leaders first led sites or meetings in Emmanuel, Brighton. So our model intentionally provides a good…
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28Feb 2018 by Nigel Ring

Multi-site churches. Part 1 – Some key characteristics

Church, Emmanuel Church, Equipping, Multi-site
In recent years several churches have favoured becoming ‘multi-site’ or ‘multi-campus’ over growing a central congregation. This approach allows more flexibility to respond to the needs of a local community. Emmanuel Church in Brighton, formerly Church of Christ the King (CCK), was one of the first churches in the UK to adopt this model. Recently I had the opportunity to talk with one of the elders, Steve Boon, who played a significant part in his role as executive pastor in transitioning the church to this model. Nigel:     Steve, how long has Emmanuel been running multi-sites? Steve:    We launched our first site in the Shoreham area in Autumn 2011, and then, four months later, a third site in the east of the city at the Racecourse. Two years on from there…
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21Feb 2018 by Nigel Ring

God answers prayer for Burundi

Burundi, Children, Foundations for Farming, Poor
            October 8th 2017 As I arrived at the meeting place of Living Hope Church, Bath, one of the Regions Beyond churches in the Newfrontiers family, I received a WhatsApp message from Donna Bloomfield in Burundi. "Yesterday we discovered that 'army worm', a devastating pest, has ravaged a maize crop grown by Albert, our newest team member. This pest has destroyed his whole crop .… and is already destroying crops across Africa. It is on the site next to the community of displaced people we are helping. It seems we therefore can't plant maize with them as planned. We have prophetic words about fruitful farmlands and no more starvation ... so we are on our knees seeking God for a way forward not just for…
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14Feb 2018 by Nigel Ring

Q/A Elders and Trustees pt 4. Working Together in a supportive and honouring culture

Charity, Church, Elders, Equipping, Trustees
  A culture of Honour Harmony and mutual honouring are vital ingredients for a successful working relationship between elders and trustees. Where there is tension, or competitiveness for authority or recognition, there is discord, which does not honour God. I chaired the trust for the Church of Christ the King in Brighton for over 30 years and was an elder for about 25 of those years. Throughout that time I sought to lead the trustees with an attitude of support and honouring of the elders while not shying away from asking penetrating questions. I felt this was the best way to serve the eldership; we could be a sounding board on which vision and values could be developed. With our expertise we could enrich and strengthen their decision-making with knowledge…
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07Feb 2018 by Nigel Ring

Q/A Elders and Trustees pt 3. What is a Trustee?

Charity, Church, Elders, Equipping, Trustees
  The primary roles of a trustee of a charity are legal and financial, specifically Safeguarding the charity by ensuring that the objects and purposes for which it exists are observed both inclusively and exclusively i.e. not operating outside the purposes for which it exists Ensuring good stewardship of finance Trustees are not governmental over the ministry and direction of the church; that is the elders’ calling. Listen There is a third important role which I will deal with first; being an informal ‘sounding board’ of the church members to the elders. Sadly, people sometimes put elders on a pedestal, something I hate and something that no good leader would ever seek. Jesus put a towel around his waist and washed the disciples’ feet. But the people may nevertheless be…
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